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Singapore is a vast, tiny, island nation surrounded by many places to go, which makes Singapore a welcome jumping-off point or a destination in its own right. There are a myriad of hotels which you can stay, here are three different hotels which will set your stay up for success.

The Scarlet Hotel

Located just outside Chinatown, this boutique hotel offers small rooms, but great location. Located next to the Maxwell Food Centre – a quite wonderful hawker mart where there are many stalls to eat from. The rooms are quirky, with the hotel trying to fit rooms within a row of historic townhouses, and on the smallish-side. A bit more on the boutique hotel side of the equation, the hotel will arrange cars and has excellent desk staff. You are close enough to walk to the CBD, but are still about a 6-10 minute walk to the MRT. The close location to the CBD and food is the key feature of this hotel

Holiday Inn Express Orchard Road – Quick and Easy

Holiday Inn Express is a newcomer to Asia, and while it is not a full-service hotel (no room service or bell boy) it is well located just off Orchard Road. This hotel is brand new, and is tucked one short block from Orchard Road, so you get all the positives of Orchard Road without the noise of the street. Across the street is Paragon Mall and the MRT Orchard Road stop is a 8-10 minute walk from the hotel. The rooms are cozy (smallish) but contain a queen sized bed, free wifi, and free breakfast. This is a no-frills hotel, where you don’t need to be afraid of contacting a disease.

If you plan on being out of the hotel, and only want breakfast and free wifi, this hotel is for you.

The Quincy – A place for business

The Quincy is located in the Mount Elizabeth area of Singapore, off Orchard Road. Further away from the crowds of Orchard Road than the Holiday Inn Express, this hotel offers a great balance of breakfast, free wifi, amenities, and room size which make it a great place to stay for business. If you are staying in Singapore for business, then I would suggest this hotel – you are close enough to the CBD but far enough away to not feel like all you are doing is working and not seeing any part of the city.

The rooms are well-sized, with a king sized bed and full black-out shades on the window provide the key ingredients for a good night sleep. The downstairs public space offers free breakfast, lunch and dinner, with the latter meals being really only good for snacks before you venture out on the town. But the hotel also offers a slim menu of food which will be delivered to your room. Extra perks are nice for business travelers include two free articles of clothing cleaned per day.

Jantar Mantar is a collection of architectural 13 architectural astronomy instruments. The site is one of five built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, from 1724 onwards, as he was given by Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah the task of revising the calendar and astronomical tables.

Of the thirteen instruments, three are quite large and remarkable:

Samrat Yantra, or Supreme Instrument, is an equal hour sundial in the form of a giant triangle. On either side of the sundaol is a quadrant with graduations indicating hours, minutes, and seconds.

The Jayaprakash are hollowed out hemispheres with markings on their concave surfaces. Wires were stretched between points on their rim so an observer could align the position of a star with various markings from below.

The Misra Yantra is a tool to determine the shortest and longest days of the year, including indicating the exact moment of noon in various cities and locations regardless of their distance from Delhi.

The Jantar Mantar is centrally located and is easy to visit on any excursion to Lutyens’ Delhi.

The Charminar – or literally Four Towers – is a monument and mosque located in the center of Hyderabad. There are many theories about why the Charminar was built. The Archaeological Survey of India states, “It is widely accepted that Charminar was built at the center of the city, to commemorate the eradication of plague” as Qutb Shah (of the Qutb Shahi Tombs fame) had prayed for the end of a plague that was ravaging his city.

The Charminar is a square structure with each side 20 meters (approximately 66 feet) long, with four grand arches each facing a fundamental point that open into four streets. At each corner stands an exquisitely shaped minaret, 56 meters (approximately 184 feet) high with a double balcony.

You can climb to the top, but expect a long line – and know that the Charminar is still a functioning Mosque and Madraasa. The neighborhood is quite crowded with many tiny shops: this being a major marketplace in Hyderabad. During Golden Hour at sunset the Charminar is a sight to see, with the bright Andhra sun shining on the limestone and granite of the minarets.